India lost to Australia by 44 runs in a low-scoring Women’s T20 World Cup warm-up match on Monday. Their batting let them down again, as they fell apart like a pack of cards.
When Australia was asked to bat first, the Indian bowlers quickly got rid of the top players. However, Georgia Wareham (32) and Jess Jonassen (22), who were the last two players to bat, made an unbeaten 50-run partnership that got Australia to 129 for 8.
In response, the Indian batters were all out in 16 overs for 85 runs.
It was the second time in a row that India’s batting let them down. The “Women in Blue” had a similar loss against South Africa in the Tri-Series final last week.
Shafali Verma (2), Smriti Mandhana (0), and Richa Ghosh, who were all important to the Indian top order, were all taken out by the fast bowler Darcie Brown (4/17). (5).
Jemimah Rodrigues, who opened the innings with Shafali, kept having a bad time. She was out for nothing, and captain Harmanpreet Kaur did not bat.
Harleen Doel (12) showed some intent by hitting two fours before being run out. Deepti Sharma (19), an all-rounder, was the top scorer because she was still not out. India could have won if someone had stayed with her until the end.
Earlier, veteran pacer Shikha Pandey (2/9) got the Aussie captain Meg Lanning (0) and Tahlia McGrath (2) out in her first two overs.
Ellyse Perry (1) was out by a run out by Radha Yadav. Australia was in trouble at 10 for 3.
Some resistance came from Ash Gardner (22) and Beth Mooney (28), but Pooja Vastrakar (2/16) and Radha Yadav (2/22) ran through the middle order.
India’s most expensive bowler was Renuka Singh, who had a bad day and gave up 39 runs in three overs.
But the Indians couldn’t break up Wareham and Jonassen’s partnership. Between them, they hit five fours and three sixes.
